


Why I hate him

by Angel1622



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, F/M, Guilt, Nakamaship, Punk Hazard Arc, Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:21:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25400773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel1622/pseuds/Angel1622
Summary: It's not often that you see anyone steal Sanji's cigarettes. Especially not Nami.orIt's finally time to leave Punk Hazard. With a few fresh injuries... or more than a few in some cases.
Relationships: Nami/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	Why I hate him

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UEvangeline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UEvangeline/gifts).



> Hey there!
> 
> So, I've been around AO3 for a year now. A whole year! I'm so happy that I managed to get through twelve months of writing after a long hiatus. To all my readers, thank you for supporting me so much! If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here today, doing what makes me really happy <3
> 
> I gift this work to UEvangeline, she's such a sweet soul and I absolutely love her SanjixNami works. Hope you enjoy it, even though there's not too much romance here :)
> 
> Have fun!

“What the hell are you doing with his cigarettes?”

Nami only rolls her eyes and takes a deep drag instead of replying, frowning slightly when she hears Zoro walking towards her. To be honest, she doesn’t like smoking, never did, but right now there’s something oddly soothing about the action. The smoke smells of safety. Of Sanji.

“I asked you a question.” Zoro crosses his arms, frowning when their eyes meet. “I don’t think he’d be happy if he knew you stole them.”

“I did not.” Nami snorts and turns her gaze to meet the ocean. Dark waves chase one another lazily, gently rocking Thousand Sunny in the process.

She doesn’t have the strength to argue with the swordsman right now. They’ve just left Punk Hazard, everyone was exhausted and on top of that she still couldn’t get used to the feeling of being back in her body after someone else was inside it.

Although there aren’t many new injuries, her muscles and limbs are drained of strength, as though she’s been running without a break for hours. Which actually doesn’t seem as ridiculous for her as it should.

“How long are you planning to be mad on the cook?” Zoro tries to sound indifferent, but the irritation in his voice is evident. Nami exhales a cloud of smoke, clenching her fingers around the cigarette.

“We’ll see about that.” She says calmly, calming down the frustration rising inside her. Zoro snorts.

One thing she’s sure of, letting go so easily is out of the question. She can’t remember the last time someone made her so mad, so goddamn furious.

_“It’s going to be okay. Just… close your eyes and trust me.”_

“I bet you’re taking great pleasure in it.” He says. “Putting all the blame on him when he’s not around.”

“I’m not putting the blame on anyone.” Nami frowns, giving the swordsman a warning look. “But I can’t simply let go and pretend everything’s fine either. There are things about Sanji I like and dislike, but what he’s done–“

“Stop!” Zoro growls, not even trying to hide his anger anymore. “I don’t want to hear you offending him anymore. I don’t know what happened between you two…”

“Zoro, don’t.” The navigator hisses quietly. She doesn’t want to hear what she knows he’s going to say.

_“Nami, dear… I’m so terribly sorry.”_

“…but the fact you’re not the one laying in Chopper’s room and bleeding out speaks for itself!”

“Don’t raise your voice when talking to me!” The navigator snaps back, surprised by her own anger.

Perhaps the reason she reacted the way she did is because she knows Zoro is right. Maybe she should admit her own weakness is why Sanji is currently fighting for his life, but somewhere inside she knows it couldn’t have turned out any other way.

“Stay out of it!” She doesn’t lower her voice, not caring if she’s going to wake anyone up at this point. “I have my reasons to feel the way I do!”

“Don’t give me that crap.” Zoro’s doesn’t raise his voice anymore, but his fists are clenched. “Watching you take advantage of him all the time makes me sick. I don’t know, maybe you just like using others until they pop their clogs and then blame them for it?”

“I told you I’m not blaming him!” Nami doesn’t even realize when her voice turns into a shout. “You know nothing, Zoro. And yet here you are, acting like you’re the smartest in the room!”

“I wouldn’t if you didn’t bring the cook back hanging on your back like a fucking corpse!”

The navigator grits her teeth and turns around rapidly. It’s not like she doesn’t know why the swordsman is so mad. Deep inside, she knows all that shouting is pointless and that she’s being ungrateful. She knows Zoro is right.

It’s not like he isn’t as worried about Sanji as she is.

“I was so scared, Zoro…” she says, feeling her anger perish, making place for other emotions. “I still am.”

There had to be something in her words that made the swordsman calm down. He doesn’t say a word and leans on the railing, waiting for her to continue. Nami takes a deep breath, pressing a hand too her head, unable to stop the images from flashing in front of her eyes.

“Back then…” she starts, turning around to look the swordsman in the eye. “I didn’t realize what he was trying to do until it was over.”

The sight of the room they were in is clear as day in her memory. Identical, metallic walls and flooring all around. Some huge pipes, computers, boxes… doors. And herself running through it, right in front of her and telling her to hurry. Fate had it that Sanji and her had been separated from the others, with switched bodies.

“At the end of the fighting, the room we were in started crumbling down.” Nami takes another drag of the cigarette. “Before we knew it, the walls were falling down on our heads. The whole structure was collapsing.”

Pieces of what minutes ago was their only surrounding laying all around. Sanji dragging her into a place providing what little shelter was possible. She remembers the petrifying fear she felt when the act they had no chances of getting to the exit in one piece struck her. They were going to die there, crushed under the crumbling ceiling.

_“Don’t be scared, Nami. It’s going to be okay. Just… close your eyes and trust me.”_

“We managed to find some shelter, but I think he knew it wasn’t going to work. Just as it was going to give in, he… he shielded himself with me.” Nami feels her chest hurt when saying the words out loud.

For a moment, silence falls between them and she knows Zoro is confused. He has to be. Nowhere near as she was, though.

“The pain I felt…” the navigator clenches her fists. “I didn’t think something like that could be real.”

“Wait.” Zoro interrupts her. “You don’t mean…”

Yes, she does.

“I felt _his_ pain, Zoro.” Nami lets out a long sigh when her throat clenches. “It was… If I were in his place, I would be dead. I’m sure of it.”

The swordsman remains silent, but his eyes go dark. Nami throws the rest of the cigarette in the ocean and watches it float for a moment before being drowned by one of the waves. She tries her best not to cry, she promised not to.

_“Nami, dear… I’m so terribly sorry. The fighting’s almost over, Tra-guy will switch us back in no time. Please, stay with me.”_

_“I wish you didn’t have to feel that, I’m so sorry. It’s going to be over soon, I promise. Don’t leave me now, Nami. I need you to stay awake.”_

_“Promise me you won’t cry, dear. It’s going to be fine. See? They’re done fighting. We won, Nami. Come on, I’ll take you back to the Sunny. Just… don’t close your eyes, okay?”_

Suddenly, she gets distracted from her thoughts when she feels Zoro’s arms wrap around her. Normally, she would punch him for it, call him a pervert or tell him to go get a bath, but somehow she realizes that a hug is what she needed this whole time.

“It’s okay.” Says the swordsman. “Chopper’s going to put him back on his feet in no time. The cook’s in good hands.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” Nami knows Zoro isn’t used to cheering people up and she can feel it in his voice, but even though, she’s grateful to him. “I’ll probably go check on him soon. Thank you, Zoro.”

* * *

Crimson. Crimson is all she can see when walking into the infirmary. A part of her tells her it’s blood, even though she refuses to believe so.

“Oh, Nami. I didn’t see you walking in.” Chopper briefly sys when their eyes meet. He’s constantly hustling between the bed and his desk, mumbling something to himself.

Nami’s eyes turn to Sanji. She manages to notice him between all the machines, IVs and blooded dressings surrounding the bed. He’s visibly in a lot of pain, even though Chopper surely gave him as many painkillers as humanly possible, frowning slightly and letting out short, shallow breaths. _Too shallow._

“His fever refuses to break down.” Mutters the doctor. Nami isn’t sure if he’s talking to her or himself. “I’ve tried almost everything, but giving him more medicines may harm him. It’s bad. It’s so, so bad…”

She has seen Chopper panic many times, like when he got bitten by a raged bug or Usopp broke his nose after falling out of his hammock, but _never_ when someone’s life was on the line. The reindeer always kept his composure when the situation demanded it.

Right now, Chopper was a mess.

“I’m so sorry, Nami.” He finally stops to give her a worried look. “If I’ve only been there a little earlier, if I had the right supplies…”

His words are quickly left behind by Nami. She wants to cover her ears and not hear those words. She doesn’t want Chopper to apologize. He doesn’t have anything to be sorry for. He’s going to get Sanji out of this.

Her eyes land on the cook’s left leg and trail all the way to his back. She remembers feeling severe pain there. As though someone set Sanji’s body on fire. There’s no way to tell what exactly happened because there are so many bandages and cloths, all of them stained. All of them leaking.

“I warned him not to injure his back anymore,” she catches Chopper’s mumbling to himself again “I told him it wouldn’t end well.”

Nami fights the urge to turn around and leave the room. Keeping inside the guilt and fear rising inside her gets harder with every passing second as she locks her eyes on Sanji’s face, longing for him to open his eyes and greet her with one of his charming smiles.

“Can I help you somehow, Chopper?” She asks, hearing her voice crack.

“Can you stay with Sanji for a minute? I need to go out for a moment, I’m pretty sure I still have some helpful things in the other room.” A trace of relief can be heard in the reindeer’s voice when he looks at her.

“Yeah, gladly.” As soon as Chopper’s hat disappears behind the door, the navigator turns to his desk and notices how the doctor has already filled in most of Sanji’s report.

Most of the words she can’t understand as the reindeer’s handwriting gets messy in most of the places, but quickly turns her head away when she notices Franky’s name written next to the cook’s left leg. Her stomach churns.

* * *

She can’t stop herself from holding Sanji’s hand when she sits next to him. As though it will make him open his eyes. The cook mutters something incomprehensibly, turning his head slightly and making the piece of cloth soaked in cold water fall from his forehead.

Nami picks it up. She can still feel the faint smell of cigarettes and seafood when she leans over him to put it back. It makes her eyes sting as suddenly she recalls the image of Sanji swooning around her with cold drinks in one hand and a tray full of delicious snacks in the other. He used to smile so genuinely back then.

“Stay strong, Sanji.” She whispers, caressing his cheek. “You can’t give up now. We’ve just entered the New World. We need you.”

For a brief moment she thinks she notices the cook ease slightly, but it could as well be her imagination. There are only mere centimeters between their faces and before she knows it, Nami gently presses their lips together, choking down a sob.

“What good will be the greatest of treasures without you?” She asks after pulling away, feeling her eyes burn when tears start flowing down her cheeks.

The naïve part of her believes Sanji’s going to open his eyes any minute now. That he’ll smile weakly, telling her how beautiful she looks tonight. But she knows it’s not going to happen and the knowledge makes it hurt even more.

“We promised not to give in until Luffy becomes the Pirate King, remember?” Her voice cracks and turns into a sob as she delicately embraces the cook, burying her head in his chest.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, right?”


End file.
